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Originally posted by bold_n_brazen
Damn, I thought NotBob would have fielded this by now, but since he hasn't...
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Sorry. I get so tired of arguing with sebby about this that I didn't feel up to taking on another person.
Quote:
Originally posted by bold_n_brazen
Second, to denounce an artist on the basis of a fan base is sort of silly, ins't it? Do you also not like The Indigo Girls because their fan base is unshaven lesbians, Liz Phair because her fan base is angry young 20-somethings and the men who want to bang them (and the fair Ms. Phair), or Jimmy Buffett because of the whole Parrot Head thing?
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Word. I am not a lesbian, but I dig all of that crunchy-granola, earth shoe-wearing, estrogen-acoustic guitar stuff. (Sadly, I fit squarely into the other two examples.)
Anyway, I am not from New Jersey (NTTAWWT) and have never been to the Jersey shore. And although Springsteen certainly speaks to that set explicitly sometimes ("Greetings From Asbury Park," anyone?), it isn't exclusive. The protagonists in "The River" are more universal working class folks than Jerseyites. The guy in the title track seems more like a rust belt blue collar guy than a Jersey punk racing to Atlantic City in his IROC.
Maybe it's in part a class thing. He clearly has a working class sensibility in many of his songs, and if you aren't able to put yourself in the shoes of a guy who sees fear in the eyes of his wife as the factory lay-offs approach, maybe you think his songs are hokey.
